Upstate Betrayed

The self-inflicted hits just keep coming to Gov. Cuomo’s upstate “economic development” schemes, thanks to a combination of corruption and grandiose but flawed planning.

The state Public Authorities Control Board has again opted to hold up a $38.5 million loan (i.e., bailout) to SUNY Polytechnic, which needs the cash to pay the mortgage on its NanoFab X building.

Problem is, one of the two anchor tenants has pulled up stakes (as it was scheduled to do after five years), with no replacement in sight.

And the board says it still has “outstanding questions” on the whole deal.

This comes in the wake of the bid-rigging scandal in which Polytechnic chief Alain Kaloyeros and several upstate developers face charges, along with Joseph Percoco, once a top Cuomo aide.

The mess has all but ended SUNY’s ability to land more of the R&D mega-deals that Kaloyeros routinely pulled in — putting Polytechnic’s finances in even more perilous shape.

It’s just the latest in a long line of state-funded projects that promised loads of jobs for struggling upstaters but produced precious little.

Like the Central New York Film Hub, which was supposed to bring 350 jobs to Onondaga but now sits empty. Or a $600 million Utica plant for Ams AG, which pulled out after it opened. And, of course, Buffalo’s Solar City plant, built with $750 million in taxpayer funds for an industry in decline.

The few success stories don’t make up for the jobs lost because of Cuomo’s fracking ban.

The gov’s economic magic increasingly looks like a reverse Midas touch — turning gold to lead.